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What is the 'Monroe Doctrine'? In brief, it is a document
that defines the entire Western hemisphere as a 'backyard' of the United
States. It 'philosophically' justifies Washington's neo-colonialism, and the
most barbaric coups it has been triggering, as well as covert and open
interventions in the Caribbean, and in Central and South America.

And now, National Security Advisor John Bolton is using
this term in connection with Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, outraging those who
are opposing the US foreign policy in the region. What he means is clear,
although it is never pronounced as bluntly as this: Countries in the Western
hemisphere should never be allowed to go socialist, and they should be
prevented from disobeying Western dictates.

In Doha, Qatar, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed his outrage over Bolton's evoking of the 'Monroe Doctrine' now, when
the West is doing all in its power to overthrow the democratically elected
left-wing government of Venezuela:

"The theory and the practice of 'backyards' is generally
insulting."

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Lavrov also added that:

"Since 1945, when the UN was founded, the international
law is being regulated by this universal and the most legitimate organization."

This is, obviously, not how the United States sees the
world. Maybe it never even considered such an approach.

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*

But back to the 'notorious' Monroe Doctrine.

Surprisingly, it was not always intended to intimidate and
brutalize independent and progressive Latin American nations.

According to the definition of the United States Department
of State:

"The Monroe
Doctrine was a United States policy of
opposing European colonialism in the Americas beginning in
1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to take control of any
independent state in North or South America would be viewed as 'the
manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.'"

So, in theory at least, this policy was supposed to be
putting the brakes on European colonialist expansionism. This may sound almost
unbelievable now.

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How very unfortunate that it has evolved into one of the
most unscrupulous tools of oppression in modern history!

Contrary to its original meaning, the United States
used the 'Monroe Doctrine' in order to overthrow basically all patriotic,
progressive and left-wing governments in the Western hemisphere; governments
that resisted the selfish geo-political interests of Washington, or the
interests of US corporations, including the infamous United Fruit Company, which was notorious for treating virtually all
Central American countries as if they were its private plantations.

Then during the Cold War, US foreign policy towards Latin
America was built on the belief that the 'Monroe Doctrine' should be invoked in
order to prevent the spread of Soviet-backed Communism in the region.

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Arlene Goldbard, author of The Culture of Possibility: Art, Artists & The Future